Walt Disney And Europe: European Influences On The Animated Feature Films Of Walt Disney

Walt Disney And Europe: European Influences On The Animated Feature Films Of Walt Disney

Walt Disney and Europe: European Influences on the Animated Feature Films of Walt Disney

Concentrating on the classic animated feature films produced under Walt Disney's personal supervision, Robin Allan examines the European influences on some of the most beloved Disney classics from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Jungle Book. This lavishly illustrated volume is based on archival research and extensive interviews with those who worked closely with Walt Disney.

Review

Europe and its culture profoundly influenced Disney in the making of animated feature films from Snow White to Jungle Book and in his creation of Disneyland. Fourteen of the 17 animated features Disney produced before his death in 1966 had European (mainly folktale) sources: artistically Disney and his animators borrowed freely from the European masters (e.g., Busch, Daumier, Doré (Dore), Grandville), and he enticed artists, musicians, and writers (Dalí (Dali), Huxley, Stokowski, among many) to leave the continent to work at his studio. The European influence was also evident in Disney's WW II propaganda shorts, which drew on the satire and allegory of European political cartoons (Hogarth, Rowlandson, and Gillray; contemporaries David Low, Louis Raemakers, and George Grosz). There is no more competent researcher...